Although we all know that time is an artificial construct, the start of a new year has a range of potent meanings. Party celebrations, hangover, spring cleaning, quiet reflection, newly sparked resolve – what does it mean to you?
At TRS, we’re grateful for our successes in 2021 and looking forward to realising our plans in 2022.
Even though it’s not the start of a new financial year, January’s a good time to get some of those smaller money saving jobs done. Minimum effort, maximum feel good factor. Ease into the year knowing that you’re putting the right foot forward for your business.
Have a look at these money saving tips, see what applies to you, and get stuff ticked off your list before you even start back properly.
List of Little Wins for 2022
Here’s a list of three little wins that might just save you a bit of money before you even get to the end of January.
- Review and renegotiate
Essentially, this is a simple taking stock exercise. Sit with your bank statements and consider each direct debit – do you still need it? For example, are you subscribing to a professional magazine that never gets read? Often people find at least one direct debit that they can’t instantly identify. And, after a bit of a dig, realise it’s something they no longer need. Get rid of unnecessary expenses.
Then take a look at your bills. Especially the big three rent, energy, water. Is there any room for negotiation with your landlord? Look at the most recent good advice about energy prices and consider your options. If it’s not a good time to switch now, put it in your diary to have a recheck at the start of the next quarter.
Because you’re paying for things like this automatically, it’s very easy to put them at the bottom of the list. The important part is taken care of you’ve got what you need, and it’s all being paid for. But you can save yourself a considerable amount, just by setting aside an hour’s thinking time.
- Making the most of what’s available
‘Take care of the pennies and the pounds look after themselves’ , we know you’ve heard that more than once before. But it’s a kernel of wisdom we can all learn from. And it means different things, depending on your situation. For example:
- Using loyalty schemes: Do the companies you regularly use have a loyalty scheme? What do you get if you sign up? If they don’t – is there an alternative supplier that provides the same thing, at the same price, that does have a loyalty scheme that saves you money? Even just a 5% discount adds up over a year. We know, nobody wants a wallet full of cards you never use. But it’s different if you’ve actually chosen the scheme because you know you’re going to benefit from it. And, if you’re buying from them anyway, why not?
- Refer a friend schemes: This one can go both ways. Using referral schemes when you pass on recommendations and setting up your own referral scheme. Both are good for everyone. We’ve found ours to be an entirely positive experience. Again, if you’d recommend them anyway, why not accept the thank-you gift?
- Tax reliefs and allowances: Are you absolutely sure that you’re getting the full tax rebate you’re entitled to? Remember, these reliefs and allowances are for everyone paying UK tax, employees under PAYE as well as the self employed. And there’s a lot of them. Often, especially when people’s circumstances change, they end up missing out on their full entitlement. For example, not claiming the working from home allowance during lockdown. You don’t even have to sort this one yourself – give us a call and we’ll make sure you’re fully compliant and maximise your tax rebate.
- Small changes, big impact
As well as rest and fun, holiday times often give us space to see our business from a slightly different perspective. Lots of possibilities might pop into your head. Here’s a few small changes that you might consider making:
- Cut down on waste: Have you noticed that you’re getting through a ridiculous amount of paper, that usually ends up in the bin? Little things like this creep up on us. A good place to start is a waste audit. No need for an overly complicated spreadsheet. Just a look at what you’re throwing out and why. Do you need to print all the things, or will saving to the cloud do? There’s no point literally throwing your money in the bin. Just think through what you’re throwing out, why and most importantly can it be reduced or even stopped altogether? All you really have to do is ask the questions.
- Time: This one revolves around the question, ‘can this meeting be an email’? Every workplace has ‘the way things have always been done’ but that doesn’t mean that they can’t change. Is that Monday morning, hour long team meeting actually necessary? Or could it just be a quick 10 minute review of the week’s calendar? That’s just one example. Now we’ve all tried and refined our virtual communications out of necessity, is there a way to use that to make your ‘usual’ working procedures more efficient? Saving you and your employees’ time is saving money. What can you do?
- Wording your job adverts: If you’re hiring, do you really need ‘experience’? It seems like every single available job requires you to have experience already. But if you already have an experienced staff, they can successfully nurture someone who’s qualified but not yet experienced. This means you can start them at the lower rung of the salary ladder and get them trained up the way you want them. Just worth a thought.
Of course there are bigger possibilities that would have a greater impact, like continuing remote working or swapping to a four day week. Both of which could cut your spend quite considerably, But they’d require a lot more impact assessments and planning.
We just wanted to give you a couple of smaller ideas that you can decide and implement quickly and see results almost instantly.
Of course your biggest resource in any time and money saving exercise is your colleagues and employees. Ask them how they think the business can save money. No matter how small. And then really consider if it’s feasible within your structure.
Let’s kick 2022 off with some simple, quick wins and carry that positivity forward through the rest of the year.
Tony Shanks